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No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Clemson, No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 4 Georgia took the top four spots, followed by No. 5 Oklahoma and No. 6 Ohio State. Those are the six teams most likely to make up the four-team Playoff unless unmitigated chaos breaks out. Yes, we’ll talk about No. 8 UCF, too. We have a scenario for that. In fact, we break down the six possible scenarios that will unfold this weekend and who will make the four-team Playoff as a result: MORE: Championship Weekend picks...

Having lost to Purdue on Oct. 20 and only beaten Nebraska by five points on Nov. 3, Ohio State’s latest misstep dropped it one spot in the AP Poll to No. 10, with UCF gaining an edge. Meanwhile, West Virginia fell five spots to No. 12 after its 45-41 loss to Oklahoma State. MORE: Michigan-Ohio State could define Jim Harbaugh, Urban Meyer eras Though ranked teams generally played well on Saturday, Oklahoma allowed 40 points in a victory over Kansas....

The Sooners got revenge on Texas on Saturday, winning 39-27, while Ohio State beat Northwestern 45-24 to make its case for the 4-team Playoff. Georgia, who moved down to No. 6 after getting stunned by Alabama by a touchdown, will have an uphill climb, but its close loss could still be enough in the committee’s eyes. MORE: Oklahoma’s defense could be the difference-maker Here are the final AP and Coaches Poll from Championship Saturday:...

A total of 76 FBS schools are still participating in the season. That includes six conferences — the ACC, American Athletic Conference, Big 12, Conference-USA, SEC and Sun Belt — along with a few independents. A total of 54 FBS schools have canceled their fall football season. That had an obvious impact on Sporting News Preseason Top 25. A total of 10 teams on that original list are not playing in 2020, so we had to make a revised edition for the upcoming season....

From the Battle in Bristol and the Holy War, to LSU and Notre Dame’s uncertain quarterback situations, this week offers plenty of storylines, to say the least. MORE: Top 25 live updates | Full scoreboard Check back throughout the day for live updates. UPDATE: 4:20 p.m. ET: We are on the Swamp, y’all! Florida scored its second touchdown against Kentucky with a Luke del Rio 78-yard pass to Antonio Callaway....

No. 2 LSU hosts No. 9 Auburn in the biggest game of the schedule, but its 3:30 p.m. kickoff time means it’s not the first big game of the day. That distinction goes to No. 3 Ohio State’s home game against No. 13 Wisconsin at noon. The late-night schedule has plenty to choose from, most notably No. 8 Notre Dame looking to keep its Playoff hopes alive against No. 19 Michigan at 7:30 p....

Our four esteemed participants will be charged with picking three underdogs each week who will win straight up. Should said underdog pull off the upset, points will be awarded to the correct picker in the amount the team was an underdog. Your 6.5-point dog wins the game (hello, Illinois), you get 6.5 points. Simple, dimple. In an absolutely loaded Week 1, which includes FIVE top 25 matchups, there are plenty of chances to go big (Louisiana Monroe is getting 30....

Maradona, whose famous ‘Hand of God’ goal helped knock England out of the 1986 World Cup, nailed his colours to the Colombian mast after Argentina were eliminated at the hands of France and was pictured wearing the team’s jersey on social media. However, Colombia’s hopes were ended by a 4-3 shoot-out loss, despite Yerry Mina’s second-half stoppage-time goal cancelling out Harry Kane’s penalty to earn a 1-1 draw after extra time....

There’ll be carloads of Louises From Parisian stripteases Importing foul diseases Into Kent. There’ll be modern French Wells Fargoes Sending juggernauts with cargoes Of frogs legs and escargots And men’s scent. There’ll be Swedes of charmless candour Coming over to philander, Spreading Left-wing propaganda About wealth. Belgian girls of vast proportions, Who have failed to take precautions, Driving over for abortions On the Health.

During a press conference on Wednesday, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said, “one of the groups that the vaccine newly opened up to are 12-to-17-year-olds, and today we’re proud to announce that we’ll be offering 25 $50,000 scholarships to randomly selected 12-to-17-year-olds who are vaccinated.” Polis also noted that the scholarship money will be placed into a college investment account, for the winners to use when they are ready to attend college....

Jefferson County Public Health’s executive director, Dr. Dawn Comstock, detailed the harassment in an interview the Denver Post on Tuesday. She noted that at one clinic, someone threw unidentified liquid at a nurse. “Additional cars drove by screaming obscenities at vaccine staff and throwing garbage at them,” Comstock said. “I will not put the hard-working public health staff in harm’s way.” In a statement to Newsweek, Comstock said the “hostility and abuse toward public health and medical workers over Labor Day weekend in Jefferson County is not new, and others around the country have unfortunately been dealing with similar traumatic experiences....

According to league sources, Colts owner Jim Irsay is a big fan of Russell Wilson. The Colts will have to acquire Wilson via trade as he’s still under contract with the Seattle Seahawks. Another hurdle Seattle would need to overcome is that Wilson would have to waive the no-trade clause that is on his current contract. While Seattle’s asking price hasn’t been clarified, one would assume they’d be asking for multiple first-round picks/players....

A few other storylines to keep an eye on are: Will UCF be able to keep their winning streak alive as they host Cincinnati? Can Oklahoma impress the playoff committee enough to get into the top four? And finally, will the Alabama starters even make it to halftime against The Citadel before they are pulled? WEEK 11 NFL DFS: Values | Stacks | Lineup Builder Smart fantasy owners know researching the highest Vegas totals gives you an edge on your competition....

Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett has been ruled out of the Big Ten Championship Game due to a fractured ankle suffered in last Saturday’s win over Michigan. The Buckeyes face Wisconsin for the conference title on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, opening as 3-point underdogs at The Wynn on Sunday and quickly getting bet down to +2.5 before rising to +4 on Monday. Ohio State will replace Barrett with sophomore Cardale Jones, who has attempted just 19 passes in his college career, completing 11 of them for 121 yards with two touchdowns....

While all of that’s well and good, the question still needs to be asked: Who ya got? MORE: Week 1 picks against the spread Sporting News offers its straight-up picks for the first week of college football. How do they measure up to your predictions? College football picks Ohio State vs. Indiana When: Thursday, Aug. 31, 8 p.m. ETTV: ESPN Indiana hasn’t beaten Ohio State since 1988, and that’s going to be the case after Thursday — the Hoosiers don’t have the talent to take on the Buckeyes....

Don’t worry, though: There are still plenty of exciting matchups to whet your appetite, including the first meeting of Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley and Texas’ Tom Herman in the Red River Rivalry, an SEC West matchup between Auburn and LSU and a deciding Pac-12 South battle between USC and Utah. MORE: Week 7 College Football Playoff outlook Sporting News is 34-14 this year after going 4-4 in our Week 6 picks....

The overnight ratings for the two semifinals were the highest-rated New Year’s Day college football games ever on an ESPN network. MORE: Is the SEC done? | Ducks vs. Buckeyes should be good fun | Bowl photos The Rose Bowl and Sugar Bowl posted ratings of 15.5 and 15.3, respectively. Birmingham was the top market for both games, averaging a 39.6 rating for the Rose Bowl and a 50.2 for Ohio State’s 42-35 win over Alabama in the Sugar....